Dance Lessons - Scorose

Orange Juice

A month had passed since Rose and Scorpius had returned from the hospital. Everyone now knew about what had happened.

Everyone expected Rose to stay strong, to bounce back. She was Rose Malfoy, she never broke down, she never stopped because of a bump in the road. She powered on, it was in her nature to. And yet, she couldn't. She couldn't come back from what had happened. It tore her up inside every time she thought about it. 

She carried on, she was British - but her heart wasn't in it. She was just going through the motions of her life and it just so happened that one day, a door stood ajar in the hallway.

Rose pushed it open slightly to see the cot that they had bought along with all of their other furniture. There was nothing else in the room yet and it just looked so empty. She walked up to the single object in the room and leant against it. She kicked it, without thinking. And then she punched it, again and again until her knuckles were bloody and her throat raw from screaming. 

Scorpius ran into the room and grabbed her from behind. She immediately collapsed onto the floor, into the arms of her husband. Her brought her hands up to his lips and kissed them gently. 

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"You don't have anything to be sorry about. Believe me, Rose,"

"I know, I'm just - I'm just worried that this will tear us apart. I - I don't want to lose you and I really want to come back from this, I really do and I'm trying so hard,"

Scorpius sighed. Rose had sheer determination and, in his experience anyway, when she had this, she normally succeeded in her mission.

"Rose, I will never leave you. Never, okay? And, well, the maternity healers say that the best thing to do is try again. So we'll try again and even if it takes ten years, we'll get there, I promise,"

*          *          *

The next day, Rose had new-found optimism. It threw Scorpius slightly. She had completely changed; she was smiling again, humming under her breath and...squeezing orange juice.

"What in Merlin's name are you doing?" Scorpius chuckled as he walked into the kitchen.

"I am making orange juice, and you are going to help me," she replied, handing him a box of oranges and kissing him on the cheek.

"No, I mean, you've changed. Yesterday, you..well, you know," he said, setting the box back on the counter and taking Rose's hand.

"I know. But, I've decided that there's no point in letting it de-rail our life. I'd rather be happy. I am in charge of how I feel and today I choose happiness,"

"Where did you read that?" Scorpius said, laughing, as he took a few oranges and began to cut them in half.

"Who says I read it anywhere?" she asked, and then added, after a moment, "I saw it on a poster on the Tube, okay? But the point still stands. I'm fed up of being upset. So, today, I propose that we make orange juice, have breakfast and then go out and buy a plant, as a memorial, and we put it in the garden,"

Scorpius smiled, "I love you," he said, planting a kiss on her lips. She returned his smile.

"I know," she said with a wink.

*          *        *

"A little to the left," 

Scorpius stood up and looked down at the bush of fuchsia. It was in a large plant pot that had a large rim. He took Rose's hand in his. She flicked her wand and the rim of the pot was engraved with the words: In memory of Aphrodite Malfoy.

She gave another wave of her wand and the buds opened to reveal the bright pink flowers. The light breeze caused them to jiggle slightly. Rose had always thought that they looked like ballerinas, especially when they swayed and started to dance.

She smiled sadly and wiped a tear off of her cheek. Scorpius leant down and snapped of a bunch of the flowers.

"What are you doing?!"

He laughed. "Come with me,"

She obliged. He led them out of the front door, across the road and onto the beach.

"Okay, what are we doing, Scorp?"

"My Dad does this every year, on the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts. He blames himself, you know? He feels responsible for at least a few of the losses on that day. So, in memory, he takes flowers, a flower for each person lost, and he releases them into the sea, so they can be free, I spose," he replied.

Scorpius tapped the flowers in his hand with his wand and they immediately left his grasp and floated gracefully around them. He took a smooth stone out of his pocket that was also engraved with the same message as the pot and placed it to his lips before handing it to his wife. Rose took it with both hands and kissed it gently. When she let go, it joined the flowers in floating delicately. 

"Ready?" he asked her. She nodded in reply. Scorpius moved his wand in an arch above them and the flowers and stone moved towards the sea. They floated down to the water once they had got past the breaking waves and soon dispersed on the surface.

Rose sighed and rested her head on Scorpius' shoulder.

"Orange juice?" he asked. She laughed and reached up to kiss his cheek.